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By now you are well aware of Alistair Overeem‘s departure from Golden Glory. If you aren’t, then here’s a quick run down of what has transpired today. Alistair Overeem sent out an incredibly long tweet announcing that he is separating from his long time team Golden Glory, citing that there was a “breach of trust” and that there was no way to return to a stable working environment. It is pretty shocking to say the very least. Golden Glory has been Alistair’s home for the entirety of his MMA and Kickboxing careers. His brother Valentijn is also a Golden Glory fighter, so it is safe to say there was a family environment in the Dutch gym.

Fighters Only Magazine reached out to Golden Glory chief Bas Boon for comment on the split. His response reads as someone who is just as shocked as the rest of us:

Overeem’s statement said he was splitting with his “long-time management Golden Glory” but Boon seems to see it as Overeem no longer training at the Golden Glory facility only. He told Fighters Only, “There is a management contract in place and as long as this is honored we are fine with the decision from Alistair and wish Alistair much success in his further career.”

For those that don’t understand the Golden Glory system, I’ll try to quickly explain. It isn’t a gym in the same sense as a Jackson’s MMA or TriStar gym. Bas Boon and Ron Nyqvist serve as managers as well as trainers for their stable of fighters. It is why a fighter such as Semmy Schilt can fight under the Golden Glory banner but doesn’t train with the rest of the team in Breda.

According to Overeem’s comments, he is choosing to split from his management team which makes Boon’s comments to Fighters Only strange. Boon it would seem, is under the impression that Alistair is only choosing to split from training at the gym but will remain a Golden Glory fighter in the client sense. The situation gets even weirder when Boon spoke with MMA Junkie about the situation:

“I wasn’t really surprised, actually, after the last three months because he already had a lot of different ideas on how he would divide certain percentages which were normal in the past, and apparently, are not now,” he said. “I think the judge will decide on this issue that we have, and when that is decided, we will see who was right and who was not.”

The final sentence is pretty telling as to where the relationship between Overeem and Golden Glory is headed. If it is to be read as it was stated, the next time that Alistair and Boon meet could be in a courtroom. Boon may be feeling slighted that he negotiated Overeem’s UFC contract and now is being cast aside for someone new. At the end of the Junkie interview Boon did theorize why Alistair could have decided to leave his side. It has been nine months since winning the K-1 World Grand Prix and Alistair has still not been paid his purse for the tournament win. That kind of mismanagement would definitely have a client question your abilities to fulfill your responsibilities.

This is definitely not the end of the story between Overeem and Golden Glory as I expect more information about the split to come out in the coming days. From my own knowledge, I know there were some rumblings of a complete split of the camp with the different managers taking their prized possessions and moving elsewhere. Hopefully this is not the case and it is just a singular instance of an unhappy client and teammate.

Wow, Alistair still hasn't gotten his money from the K-1 Grand Prix and the management is unhappy about him leaving? I hope everything works out and that Overeem doesn't have to worry about it too much so his training wouldn't suffer.

Wow, Alistair still hasn't gotten his money from the K-1 Grand Prix and the management is unhappy about him leaving? I hope everything works out and that Overeem doesn't have to worry about it too much so his training wouldn't suffer.

I hope he joins an elite team in the states and starts wrestling.

I hope some true Hells Angles gangsters striaght out of Amsterdam go after the Reem and cut his throat in his sleep, but then I am a little to left on this one.

Wow, Alistair still hasn't gotten his money from the K-1 Grand Prix and the management is unhappy about him leaving? I hope everything works out and that Overeem doesn't have to worry about it too much so his training wouldn't suffer.

I hope he joins an elite team in the states and starts wrestling.

Yea but you have to wonder if thats Golden Glory's fault or FEG's fault. Either Golden Glory is incompetent in trying to get the money, or that FEG simply doesent have the money to pay him.

I thought that part of the idea of Golden Glory getting paid instead of the fighters was that Golden Glory will pay Overeem from their own purse and then collect the money from the event for themselves. Thats what Bas Rutten was explaining it as not too long ago. So how is it possible that Overeem did not get paid if Golden Glory is supposed to be paying him.?

I thought that part of the idea of Golden Glory getting paid instead of the fighters was that Golden Glory will pay Overeem from their own purse and then collect the money from the event for themselves. Thats what Bas Rutten was explaining it as not too long ago. So how is it possible that Overeem did not get paid if Golden Glory is supposed to be paying him.?